SensibleAmerican's Comments (79)

“Van Jones "carelessly" signed the 9/11 truther petition?! Seriously?! Such an astoundingly shocking petition and he signed it "carelessly"?! This is like Michele Malkin defending Cheney that the poor fella simply responded to faulty intelligence!

The causes for Jones' departure included the fact that he signed a 2004 petition supporting the so-called "9/11 truther" movement; that he was a self-professed communist during much of the 1990s; that he supported the cop-killer Mumia abu-Jamal; that in 2008 he accused "white polluters" of "steering poison into the people of color communities"; and that earlier this year, speaking to a friendly crowd in Berkeley, Calif., he called Republicans "a--holes.

OK calling Republicans "A-Holes" is like calling those little creatures in a river, Fish! They are what they are ... anyhoo Jones was no Progressive, he was and is a radical. The right wing has its share of loonies and so does the left fringe. The irony is that both these fringes think they are right and the other is wrong while they point fingers at each other in a holier-than-thou fashion!”

“To make such "demands", it takes a lot of moral conviction and political courage and the ability to rise above myopic considerations like the 2010 mid-term elections. Like you wrote Dr. Reich: "we'll see"

As for the demands per se, I seriously doubt if #s 2 and 3 will be heeded to, again, "we'll see"”

“I am a committed Dem and my remark was more directed to the cluelessness manifested in the previous post

I absolutely agree that it has been the Dems that have brought about ground breaking and historical legislation ever since FDR's "New Deal". All the Republicans have produced are crooks like Nixon or buffoons like Reagan and Bush Jr.. But there is a reason why "Prop 8" passed in California as recent as Nov. 2008 even though Obama won CA easily. Why? Because as high as 58-60% voted for it to NOT allow gay marriage in the State. Socially, even "left leaning" and/or progressives remain moderate or center right ...”

“America is indeed more moderate and center-right
"Movie people" are far left and they do NOT think that America is "moderate and center right"
The average income of an American ranges between $38-42K per annum. A vast majority of Americans who vote do make much less than $60K a year

Your post DietrichMoody is a sample of why the far left is considered clueless about mainstream America”

“The "crazy people" painted Jimmy Carter as inept and got Reagan into office
The "crazy people" crushed Mondale and turned Dukakis into a cartoon character
The "crazy people" defined Al Gore as an exaggerator and wooden and got away with it
The "crazy people" killed the first health care reform efforts in 1993
The "crazy people" rigged Bush Jr. into office
The "crazy people" turned a war hero like Kerry into a bumbling "flip flop" while the fella who was AWOL in the National Guard became the "determined and resolute Commander-In-Chief"
The "crazy people" declared all dissenters as unpatriotic and unAmerican after 9/11 and muzzled all their critics
The "crazy people" took America into a war based on lies and manufactured "evidence"
The "crazy people" tortured and renditioned and gave no-bid contracts to cronies while destroying the Constitution and the Bill of Rights
The "crazy people" hate and spread hate
The "crazy people" have managed to keep the White House for 35 out of the last 50 years

All because the 'crazy people" always manage to not only drive their message home but to also define the intellectuals and elites who continue to scoff at these "crazy people" calling them "crazy people" while they lose all major political battles ...”

“Glenn Beck IS a nut but I have seen his "episodes" on Jones and it is not conjecture or hearsay, Beck has produced videos of Jones (himself) claiming that he is a communist and Marxist”

“Obama won in 2008 but got lesser votes in the South than Kerry and Gore, who lost! Race was, is and will always be an issue in this Country Mr. Hutchinson but do keep in mind that on this issue the GOP is preaching to the choir. The insanity that has gripped the right wing hardliners is playing well through radio and "Fixed News" but it is playing well amongst the same demographics that believes such insanity as the gospel for decades. This is the same demographic who loves Sarah Palin, who gave Bush an approval rating of 91% when his overall approval was below 30% and this is the same demographic that wonders where the Sun goes after sunset!

Obama's poll numbers are sliding southwards not because of his race but because more Americans are beginning to appreciate the age old axiom that "actions speak louder than words" ...”

“CNN, MSNBC, NBC, ABC, CBS just to name a few "giants" in the media are NOT "right wing monopoly". "Corporate owned politicians" are as much Dems as Republicans and "Wall Street" has it tentacles well into this very admin through the likes of Geithner and Bernanke and Summers and the "Goldman Sachs old boys network" is thriving more than ever!

Yes, let's "get behind him" if you really know what "him" wants and stands for?! Nobody knows if the "public option" is even an option let alone a "single payer" system like Medicare ...”

“Well stated enochsmoky! If you remove the caucuses (which are not even representative democracy), Hillary won all the major demographics (except blacks) and States/Primaries, not to mention the popular vote! The liberal media had made up its mind to anoint him as "The One" and hence there were ad nauseum comparisons to LBJ and FDR and JFK and Jesus Christ and MLK and so and so forth. The hapless "super delegates" better known for their plado spines got in for all the wrong reasons

The balloon has burst and so has the media hype. As Hillary rightly stated: "you campaign in poetry and govern in prose", no amount of blah-blah off a teleprompter can cover up inaction and inadequacies ...”

“Your father (rest in peace) was a "Sensible American" Josh and so are you! :-)) Hillary's words are so true that "you campaign in poetry and govern in prose"! Obama's eloquence had the far left in a tizzy while his ambivalence and vagueness had moderates and independents swinging to his tunes. Now the same eloquence sounds like an overdose of blah-blah and his vagueness is seen as "sitting on the fence" and "not taking a stance"

No wonder all the damage done in the Bush years to the constitution, FISA, the Bill of Rights has still not been repealed. Renditions are still on, prisoners are being shipped to countries that advocate and use torture, now you can carry a weapon to a National Park (so much for gun control), health care reform has so many shades that most do not know whether they are coming or going, the deficit soars while government keeps ballooning in size

As for the Dems, the "right" has always been able to get their message across and define everyone from Carter to Mondale to Dukakis to McGovern to Gore to Kerry while the "left" only reacts to such "definitions". No wonder Palin's rants on "Facebook" carry more momentum than a sitting President's pronouncements!”

“A brilliant and timely article Lincoln! Dems suffer from an "abused wife syndrome" as it were! For decades the right wing has been able to successfully "define" the Dems: weak on defense, not in tune with mainstream Americans vis-a-vis social and moral values and basically a party of tax and spend! The fear of right wing attacks therefore has made the Dems wanting to behave like the Republicans!

Let's begin with Moral and social values: the last well known Dem "indiscretion" was the Lewinsky scandal and more recently John Edwards. But just look at the vermin creeping out of the "party of moral values": Ted Haggard, Mark Foley, Ensign of Nevada, the SC Governor and his Argentinian sojourns, "wide stance" Larry Craig, the 3 times married Gingrich and Guiliani and the "DC Madam" Vitter of Louisiana

Defense: a 2 trillion dollar waste called the Iraq war sold to the American people on lies. Chicken Hawks running that war pretending to be all macho while they ran for dear lives when it actually was time to serve their Country!

Spending: one of the largest deficits and government expansions were on Bush's watch!

Winning an election and "creating history" should not be the be all and end all”

“This fairly widespread MISconception amongst liberals is well summarized in the following lines in your post Lance: "The conservative opposition today is now being maneuvered into a position where they can only be responsible for one of two options: either paralysis or irrelevance"

I have read about similar misgivings when Carter was pulverized as weak and indecisive after the Iran hostage fiasco! So, one of the most visionairy Presidents like Carter has been reduced to an icon of the "fumbling and weak". Since FDR Bill Clinton has been the ONLY 2-term Dem President and now Obama is being labeled as Carter. Wonder why? because the same "lunatic fringe" finds its messages percolating into mainstream through right wing talk radio nuts, FOX "news" and the likes of Lou Dobbs. Today an out-of-office Sarah Palin's "death panel" insanity is gaining more traction than a sitting President's message and a President whose IQ is ostensibly 3-4 times than the ex-Governo­r-who-also­-ran-for-V­P! Bill Oh-Lielie's rants indirectly caused the murder of an "abortion Doctor", Dobbs pulled the leprosy-illegal immigrants' connection out of his gassy behind and touted it on CNN many times and ofcourse one can go on and on with such examples

Liberals continue to sit in their ivory towers and continue to believe that the "pen is indded mightier than the sword" while the right wing nuts are walking around and brandishing actual swords as it were ...”

“Very apt and timely post Peter!
For 30 years Republicans have managed to convince Americans in general that Dems are weak on defense. Alzheimers had kicked in when Reagan for a second term and won 49 States, I repeat 49 out of 50 States! His "voodoo economics" and Iran-Contra could not prevent Bush senior from getting into the White House and had it not been for Ross Perot he just may have served a 2nd term
Bush junior rigged his way into the White House and comfortably won a second term. Mondale was reduced to a joke and so was Dukakis, Carter was vilified, Gore was laughed at and Kerry a war hero was portrayed as a bumbling flip-flop while "AWOL Bush" became the determined and resolute Commander-In-Chief! Go figure ... and now Sarah Palin's "death panel" insanity is actually gaining traction!

But the Dems still have not learned. The right wing nuts constantly pull stuff out of their collective behinds, scream lies from roof tops but they do it in unison and stay on message. They repeat it collectively and in chorus and harmony so many times that it actually starts sounding like the gospel truth! Meanwhile well meaning Dems fumble their way along with intellectual arguements and statistics, in other words, crawl all over the map

Dems have to learn to get out of their Ivory Towers and country club decorum and get into actual street fights. You cannot fight mucus with hand sanitizers ....”

“There is a great article on RCP by Jay Cost which is a must read for this admin and its supporters and speaks of how the 2008 "mandate" was not really a mandate. Here are some interesting statistics from that post:
"All the strained comparisons of Obama to Franklin Roosevelt were a tipoff that many were talking themselves into the idea that the 2008 election created an opportunity for a substantial, leftward shift in policy. Yet the election of 2008 was not like the 1932 contest. It wasn't like 1952, 1956, 1964, 1972, 1980, 1984, or even 1988, either. Obama's election was narrower than all of these. FDR won 42 of 48 states. Eisenhower won 39, then 41. Johnson won 44 of 50. Nixon won 49. Reagan won 44, then 49. George H.W. Bush won 40. Obama won 28, three fewer than George W. Bush in his narrow 2004 reelection. This makes a crucial difference when it comes to implementing policy. Our system of government depends not only on how many votes you win, but how broadly distributed those votes are. This prevents one section or faction from railroading another"

Obama HAS to go hard left now for he has to remind himself who really got him into office. Why the middle-of-the-road Dems, the "blue dogs and/or the Reagan Dems" voted for him is a whole another discussion. Nevertheless, minorities, liberal activists and liberal new voters got him in”

“Sarah Palin has more experience and more of a track record of achievement than Barack Obama! "Common sense" does not seem to be very common when it comes to the latter ...”

“There should be a counter post on this blog titled "the Presidential choice that lost the Dems yet another election"! While the Dems obsess over Palin, McCain has closed the deficit amongst women from 52-18 Obama in July this year to a McCain modest lead of 44-42!
Swing states are now moving towards McCain, Independents are gravitating towards McCain as well. The comparisons being made are now between Obama and Palin, go figure ...
The first Debate on this 26th will be crucial. By this time, the economic crisis will turn into another petty squabble between the White House and Dems in Congress. Right wing 527s are waiting for the last few weeks before Nov. 4th to resurrect Pastor Wright and Bill Ayers!

1 out of 4 women who supported Hillary are now supporting McCain! Approximately 3% of Caucasian voters will not vote for Obama because of race. 3 million votes seperated Bush from Kerry in 2004 which led to his victory. The 2008 Electoral Collge Map resembles the 2004 more and more every day

The way the trends are going McCain should beat Obama by even a higher margin!”

“Carly Fiorina is right because there is one fundamental difference between running a multinational corporation and running a Country as President. In the former there is actual accountability and in the latter you can be a George W Bush who can run just about everything into the ground but still win a re-election by hook or by crook or by simply cunning marketing!

Just look at the women in Congress in the USofA. Just look at their "leader" Nancy Pelosi?! The Republicans are still "getting it done" because the Dem leadership refuses to stand up to them! From votes on the Iraq war to FISA to "offshore drilling", the Right has trumped the Left repeatedly, ad nauseum and ad infinitum!!!

Fiorina had the courage to take on the HP Board and push through the Compaq merger. She even took on the Hewlitt and Packard families for crying out loud! She wasn't a "nobody" or some "blowhorn" who was elected or selected, she rose from the ranks and got into that position by sheer dint of hard work and business acumen

Women like her should be applauded for their achievements and lauded for being straight shooters ...”

“Your post is not just comprehensive in its entireity John but also highlights the cobwebs of malaise that rid the Obama campaign! Brilliant and to think that you are one of the "Hollywood types"!! So much for stereotypes!

All that you have stated about the Republicans is true and the list of their sheer idiocy is even longer. One could write chronicles in a dozen volumes covering their buffoonery since the days of Nixon. It is also a fact that this is one of the worst times in the history of this great Nation and Bush, not surprisingly, has been the most disasterous President ever!!!

But, here comes the "but" ... BUT, ironically, in these troubled times, the Dems have chosen a nominee with the smallest/thinnest resume. Now add to that your justified criticism of Obama taking on Palin. That comparison has further highlighted his inexperience and brought into the limelight that all he has delivered to date are, speeches. It is not surprising therefore that in just today's Rasmussen poll, 72% and 65% respectively feel that McCain and Biden are ready to be President while 45% feel Obama is. Just 38% feel Palin is but then she is at the bottom of the Republican ticket while is Obama is at the top of the Democratic one

This notion has sunk in fairly deep and no amount of Obama "attacks" can dispel this ...”

“BassMent was the "Huff pick". CTOM, you are "my pick"!!! All "Sensible Americans" will agree with your comparisons of Kerry/Dukakis vs. Obama ...”

“Excellent observations John! After the end of the Vietnam war, the Dems have been labeled "weak on defense". After Roe v Wade, the Republicans became the party of "American and moral values". Anyone who criticizes the Republicans is part of the "liberal media". All Dem nominees are "out-of-touch elitist liberals". The most disasterous Iraq war is now a clarion call for "spreading freedom and democracy in the world" which "the Dems want to lose while the Republicans want to win". Shameless crap but perceived "reality"!!!

Every four years, the Republicans bash and the Republicans define. Every four years, the Dems get bashed and the Dems get defined. The one Dem that became the only 2 term President since FDR was shabbily shunned this primary season by both the DNC and the media. The first "black President" soon became a "racist and a raving lunatic" ... go figure ...
The one who won the popular vote, all major demographics and the popular vote, Hillary, was superceded by the "super delegates" for a new "hope for the Dem party", the one who would bring about "change", the one with no experience and no track record was now the Dems best bet?!

The Dems will probably lose again, and just as in '80/'84/'88/2000 and 2004, they will have no one to blame but themselves!!!”

“Finally someone has voiced my sentiments in an actual article on this board!!! Excellent observations John! Please add to your list Mondale in '84 and Jimmy Carter of 1980! The Republicans define the Dem nominee and the Dem nominee gets defined

Since the end of Vietnam, the Republicans have used an effective catch phrase: "the Dems are weak on defense". Roe v. Wade came on the heels of the war ending and since then the Republicans have become the party of "American and moral values". All bogus and phony! But guess what?! It has stuck in the psyche of the average American!

Why have the Dems NOT fought back to change this perception? Why do they keep electing nominees who are easy to label as elitist liberals? Why can't the media step up and tell the truth? Because even they have been cowered by the "liberal media" label. Just look at this most uncalled for/unnecessary Iraq war. The "Republicans want America to win while the Dems want America to lose". Can you believe such idiocy, such banality and sheer audacity of criminality?!

Obama and the Dems have all the facts, all the issues and 8 years of catastrophe on their side and they are still being slapped around by the shameless Republicans. ONLY Bill Clinton understood how to fight back and see what did the Dems and the media do to him in '08?

Dems deserve to lose and they have no one to blame but themselves ...”

“Now add to this ... THIS ...

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/09/12/obama_doubts/index1.html”

“You could not be more right Michael! Yet, all I can state is that your appeal shall at best remain as an appeal and at worst, wishful thinking ...

Just look at "Dubya". "The first tier of American families" are the Avons, Rockefellers, Morgans etc., as close to the "Mayflower elite" as you get. The second tier, as it were, are the long serving families of high ranking public servants, almost all of them from the East Coast. George W. bush belongs to that creme-de-la-creme, born in and born off privilege. Ivy league education, Connecticut roots and a failure in everything thrust upon him by Papa: oil business, Baseball Franchise, AWOL in the National Guard, lousy Governor and ofcourse, now the most disasterous President in American History!!!

BUT, Rove had him dressed up in denim shirts and jeans, cowboy boots, broad-buckled belt and a stetson driving a pick-up and cleaning brushes ... always cleaning brushes on his "ranch"!!! And Kerry? "The Ivy league elitist liberal from Massachussets"!!!

The demographics in this Country are not going to change anytime soon and neither will the Dems or so it seems. Till either or both don't change, the Dems will keep losing the White House. Bill Clinton understood all this so well and thus became the only Dem President to be elected twice since FDR ...”

“"The "No Maverick" ad also misses an opportunity. It correctly observes that McCain's campaign is loaded with "lobbyists­." But most of the people the ad is trying to reach don't know just what a "lobbyist" is" pretty much sums up the Dem campaigns of not only Obama but also Mondale and Dukakis and Kerry and ... ad nauseum ... ad infinitum ...

McCain is talking off "drill here, drill now" which more than matters to "real America"
Dems are chortling over Sarah Palin's lack of knowledge vis-a-vis the "Bush Doctrine" which not only has been interpreted in over half-a-dozen ways but is also alien to most in that same "real America"
McCain ads question Obama's morality and integrity, slimingly so, but they do
Obama's ad mocks McCain's lack of knowledge of computers and emails!!!

Dems aim at the cerebelum while the Republicans always aim for the heart. Dems lose mostly while Republicans win mostly ...”

“More much ado about nothing and as usual, parts of the interview are being used against her or for her! The use of force part, against her, but what has been conveniently left out is that she also mentioned isolationism and economic sanctions and that military force is not the only necessary way! She said that in so many words!!!

I can almost guarantee that a majority of those ranting on this Board did not even watch the whole interview! Not surprising though as most "news" these days are opinions and rants in any case ...”